FACES
There are six Sudoku squares below, and five of them are stand alone puzzles. But, like with a good collaboration, they are also part of a single greater puzzle. The first clues as to what that is are in the titles of each puzzle and, as the solution unfolds, you will discover a relationship between the puzzles to gain additional information that is needed to complete the last square.
Don't be put off. Specific rules for each puzzle are listed below, but normal Sudoku rules apply to all of them. There is a single clear solution and when you have the puzzle all wrapped up, there is a surprise hidden within for you to enjoy.
Rules in common between several puzzles:
Digits in killer cages do not repeat, and sum to the indicated total.
Kropki/dots/Letters on edges between two cells indicate the relationship between the values in those cells:
- black dot = ratio is the number in the dot (2 by default)
- white dot = difference is the number in the dot (1 by default)
- X = sum is 10
- V = sum is 5
It may not be assumed that all possible Kropki, X, or V have been given.
Digits in blue cells and arrow pills are read left-to-right or top-to-bottom.
Additional rules per puzzle:
A Plain Face
by Panthera
Japanese Sum Sudoku: Numbers in blue shaded cells give the sum of contiguous shaded cells within the outlined area. Two blue cells together is a 2-digit number. Rows and columns without a clue may or may not have shaded cells.
Need help with Japanese Sums? Try out some of these links to videos:
CTC: Nonograms with Maths
CTC: Solve the Sudoku to Draw a Picture
Or if you would like to see a puzzle more similar to this one check out:
BremSter: Sudoku on the streets
Faceted Gem
by Pallando
- Digits on an arrow line sum to the number in the pill.
- Each Renban line overlapping the arrow line contains the non-repeating digits of a consecutive sequence, but in any order.
Facade
by Casey
Weak Palindromes: Cells that are an equal distance along the line from its midpoint, contain pairs of digits that are either both odd or both even, and that are either both high (5 or more) or both low (less than 5).
Need some help with weak palindromes? Check out this video:
Mornington Crescent
A Plane Face
by Raumplaner
Cube construction: Identify the three 3x3 Sudoku boxes, who can be stacked on top of each other without rotation and form a 3x3x3 cube. When viewed from each side of the three directions, each of of the three layers of the cube must contain a full set of the digits 1-9. The three selected boxes must not share the same row or columns of the Sudoku grid (they must not 'see' each other).
Need help? Check out this link for an introduction to the idea:
LMD: The Cube
A Face To Die For
by MaverickJd
- Divide the whole grid into Killer cages.
- Each killer cage is rectangular, but the clue giving the cage's total is not necessarily in the top left cell of the cage.
- Cages containing the same number of cells may not touch each other at an edge or at a corner.
- White dots are strictly between cells in different cages.
- Black dots are strictly between cells in the same cage.
Need help with this type of puzzle? Check this out:
CTC: The Gift You Can Just Keep Giving
Roman Profile
by Virtual
Nothing special in particular about this puzzle.
Links:
All 6 puzzles together in penpa (without answer check):
https://kitiara.has.coffee/Faces-PuzzleOnly-PE
All 6 puzzles together in penpa (with answer check):
Note: The all-in-one grid is too large to open via URL directly. In order to load the full grid with answer-check in penpa, you need to:
- Click on the link first to open a blank penpa-edit page: Penpa
- Next, highlight everything in the textbox below by clicking on it then hitting control A then Control C.
Or highlight the text in the box below (be sure to get it all) and then hit "copy" in the browser.
If that doesn't work, then:
In a separate tab or window, visit https://kitiara.has.coffee/Faces-PuzzleFull-PE and when that fails, click the address bar then use Control A and Control C
- At the top of the penpa-edit page, find the "Load" button towards the right side and press it.
- Paste (Control V) the text you copied earlier into the box that appears, then click "Load URL"
- Start solving!
Individual puzzle links:
F-Puzzles:
A Plain Face,
Faceted Gem,
A Facade,
A Plane Face,
A Face to Die For,
Roman Profile
CTC App:
A Plain Face,
Faceted Gem,
A Facade,
A Plane Face,
A Face to Die For,
Roman Profile
A special Thank you goes out to JeremyDover, Memeristor, PaperScissors, and JayForty for testing!
Quotes from solvers
- "A wonderful set of approachable to moderately difficult puzzles with a difficult, but interesting tie together at the end." - Memeristor
- "I fell in love with the face, but our relationship ended up platonic." - Jeremydover
And lastly a list of the first people who tempted fate, rolled the die, and completed the puzzle!!
Send a PM to Panthera with proof of your solve to get listed below!
- Jlrice2
- JeremyDover
- JayForty
- Purpl
- Don_Jonny_Cash
- jkuo7